Toothbrush



Dec. 24,1968 M.J. HALL 3,417,762

TQOTHBRUSH Filed May 26, 1967 //v VENTOR May/4541;! H4 I United States Patent 3,417,762 TOOTHBRUSH Michael J. Hall, Highway 30 E., Carroll, Iowa 51401 Filed May 26, 1967, Ser. No. 641,700 1 Claim. (Cl. 132 s4 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toothbrush having a tooth paste cartridge contained within its handle portion. The tooth paste is ejected from the cartridge by means of a slidable piston member and is ejected into the bristle area by the movement of the piston. The tooth paste is ejected through a normally closed discharge valve which is positioned within the bristles.

Numerous fountain toothbrushes have met with little commercial success in years past mainly due to the method of storing the dentifrice within the toothbrush itself. These toothbrushes are also unsatisfactory inasmuch as the tooth paste continues to flow from the dentifrice jet or jets when the toothbrush is being rinsed. Additionally, these toothbrushes permit the tooth paste to harden during periods of nonause which obviously creates a problem when the toothbrush is again desired to be used.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a toothbrush having a dentifrice cartridge contained within its handle portion.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush of the fountain type having a normally closed dentifrice valve positioned within its bristle area.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush having a dentifrice valve positioned within its bristle area, the upper end of the valve being positioned closely adjacent the outer end of the bristles to insure that the dentifrice ejected therefrom will pass to the ends of the bristles.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush which is easily cleaned.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush of the fountain type which prevents the hardening of the dentifrice during periods of non-use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toothbrush with certain of the internal components thereof illustrated by broken lines;

b FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the toothrush;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the toothbrush, with broken lines indicating the movement of the slidable ejector; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view as would be seen on line 44 of FIG. 3.

The toothbrush is illustrated in perspective view in FIG. 1 and is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. Toothbrush includes a handle portion 11, head portion 13 and neck portion 15. As seen in FIG. I, handle portion 11 is comprised of handle members 17 and 19 which are detachably secured together. Handle portion 17 is provided with a longitudinal slot 21 formed 3,417,762 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 therein which extends forwardly from the rearward end thereof. As seen in FIG. 3, the rearward end of the handle portion 17 is closed by a cap member 23. A slide 25 is positioned within compartment 27 in handle portion 17 and has its rearward end curved upwardly and rearwardly to facilitate the extension thereof through slot 21. A thumb button 29 is secured to the upper rearward end of slide 25 as seen in FIG. 3.

As best illustrated in FIG. 3, handle portion 17 is provided with a forward compartment 31 which is adapted to removably receive a cylindrical cartridge 35 therein which is preferably constructed of a plastic, metal or glass material and which is designed to contain the dentifrice which is designated by the reference numeral 37. Cartridge 35 is provided with a movable plunger element 39 which is normally positioned at the rearward end thereof. The forward end wall 41 of cartridge 35 is closed but is adapted to permit the penetration of a conduit 43 therethrough as illustrated in FIG. 3. The forward end wall 41 and conduit 43 could also be designed so that they were threadably secured together for communication therebetween rather than that which is shown. Conduit 43 is hollow and has its rearward end tapered to a point in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 to facilitate the piercing of wall 41 thereby. Conduit 43 is mounted in head portion 13 and is in communication with the bore 45 provided in head portion 13 which extends forwardly thereform. As seen in FIG. 3, the forward end of bore 45 terminates in a vertical portion 47 having a flexible valve means 49 secured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom.

Valve 49 is preferably constructed of a flexible plastic or rubber material and extends upwardly approximately three-fourths of the length of the bristles 51. As seen in FIG. 4, valve 49 is provided with a pair of intersecting slits 53 and 55 provided therein to permit the flow of dentifrice outwardly therethrough at times The flexible characteristic of valve 49 prevents the user from injuring himself should his gums or teeth contact the same and also insures that the valve will be in a normally closed position to prevent the flow of dentifrice therethrough at times so that the toothbrush may be cleaned.

The normal method of use is as follows. Thumb button 29 is initially positioned in the rearward end of slot 21 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Handle portions 17 and 19 are detached from each other and cartridge 35 is placed in compartment 31. Handle portion 19 is then secured to handle portion 17 which causes the pointed rearward end of conduit 43 to pierce through wall 41 of cartridge 35 thereby causing the interior of cartridge 35 to be in communication with valve 49 via conduit 43 and bore 45. (Conduit 43 and end wall 41 would be threadably connected if such designwas utilized.) The forward end of slide 25 engages the rearward end of plunger 39 as illustrated in FIG. 3 and when it is desired to force dentifrice from the valve 49, it is simply necessary to slidably move thumb button 29 forwardly thereby causing plunger 39 to force the dentifrice in cartridge 35 therefrom. The dentifrice is forced through conduit 43, bore 45 and outwardly through the upper end of valve 49 through slits 53 and 55. As seen in FIG. 3, the dentifrice is delivered to the bristles adjacent the upper end thereof which insures that the dentifrice Will come into contact with the users teeth rather than the dentifrice being deposited on the upper end of head portion 13 which would result in an inefiicient brushing operation.

When the user has completed the brushing operation, the thumb button 29 may be moved slightly rearwardly to release any pressure imposed thereby upon plunger 39. The bristles may then be rinsed beneath a faucet or the like to clean the dentifrice therefrom. The flexible characteristic of valve 49 insures that slits 53 and 55 will be closed as soon as pressure is removed from the plunger 39 to prevent the oozing of dentifrice from the valve 49 during the rinsing of the bristles. Additionally, the normally closed condition of valve 49 prevents the dentifrice from hardening within bore 45 during periods of non-use which insures that the toothbrush will function in an etficient manner upon subsequent use.

It can be appreciated that the cartridge 35 may be quickly and easily replaced upon the depletion of the dentifrice therein. The self-contained dentifrice within the toothbrush makes it an extremely convenient travel toothbrush inasmuch as it is not necessary to carry a large tube of tooth paste.

The toothbrush is economical with respect to the amount of tooth paste that will be used due to the controlled means of depositing the same in position on the bristles.

Preferably, the entire toothbrush with the exception of the bristles is constructed of a suitable plastic material. Handle members 17 and 19 may be detachably secured together by any convenient means such as detent means 57.

If cartridge 35, conduits 43 and 45 are constructed of plastic, it may be necessary to line the same with a metal foil to prevent a reaction between the plastic and the tooth paste. Obviously, the size of the handle and cartridge may be varied depending upon the intended use.

Thus from the foregoing it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my toothbrush without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a toothbrush,

a handle means having a head portion at one end thereof with bristle members extending therefrom, said handle means including first and second hollow handle members detachably secured together,

a conduit means extending from said first handle member to said bristle members in said head portion, said conduit means having an elongated end extending into said first handle member,

a dentifrice cartridge removably mounted in said handle means having a forward wall portion which is adapted to be pierced by said elongated end of said conduit means so that the interior of said cartridge is in communication with said conduit means, said cartridge having an open end at its other end which is closed by a piston means slidably mounted therein,

said second handle member having an elongated slot formed therein which slidably receives a slide member extending therethrough, one end of said slide member adapted to extend into the open end of said cartridge and to cause the movement of said piston means to cause the dentifrice to be forced from said cartridge into said conduit means, the other end of said slide member positioned adjacent said second handle member for movement of said slide member with respect to said handle means,

said cartridge having an exposed portion extending outwardly of one of said handle members when said handle members are separated to permit said cartridge to be removed from said handle means,

a normally closed flexible valve means secured to said head portion and being in communication with said conduit means,

said valve means having an upper end closely positioned to the outer ends of said bristle members, the upper end of said valve means having a discharge opening formed therein by a pair of intersecting slit openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 767,469 8/1904 Ziegler et al. 13284 1,809,330 6/1931 Dorrance et a1 13284 2,250,758 7/1941 French.

2,807,818 10/1957 Taylor 13284 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner. 

